The invention relates to apparatus and methods for perfusing one or more organs, tissues or the like (hereinafter generally referred to as organs) to monitor, sustain and/or restore viability of the organs. This invention further relates to transportation and/or storage of the organs in a housing configured to allow pressure of the housing to be varied.
Preservation of organs by machine perfusion has been accomplished at hypothermic temperatures with or without computer control with crystalloid perfusates and without oxygenation. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,149,321, 5,395,314, 5,584,804, 5,709,654, 5,752,929 and 5,827,222 to Klatz et al., which are hereby incorporated by reference. Hypothermic temperatures provide a decrease in organ metabolism, lower energy requirements, delay depletion of high energy phosphate reserves and accumulation of lactic acid and retard morphological and functional deterioration associated with disruption of blood supply.
Ideally organs would be procured in a manner that limits their warm ischemia time to essentially zero. Unfortunately, in reality, many organs, especially from non-beating heart donors, are procured after extended warm ischemia time periods (i.e., 45 minutes or more). The machine perfusion of these organs at low temperature has demonstrated significant improvement (Transpl Int 1996 Daemen). Further, prior art teaches that the low temperature machine perfusion of organs is preferred at low pressures (Transpl. Int 1996 Yland) with roller or diaphragm pumps delivering the perfusate at a controlled pressure. Numerous control circuits and pumping configurations have been utilized to achieve this objective and to machine perfuse organs in general. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,338,662 and 5,494,822 to Sadri; U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,759 to Bauer et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,217,860 and 5,472,876 to Fahy et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,352 to Martindale et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,444 to Clark et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,686 to Gruenberg; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,738,914 and 3,892,628 to Thorne et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,285,657 and 5,476,763 to Bacchi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,930 to McGhee et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,847 to Sugimachi et al.
WO 88/05261 to Owen discloses an organ perfusion system including an organ chamber that is supplied with an emulsion fluid or physiological electrolyte that is transported through a perfusion system. The chamber contains a synthetic sac to hold the organ. Perfusate enters the organ through a catheter inserted into an artery. The perfusate is provided by two independent fluid sources, each of which includes two reservoirs.